.May 1st: I am sitting here at the computer but with not only an ache in my heart but also an ache in my neck as I constantly glance back to see if my lovely old Saluki is still breathing. She is at the moment but just looks completely out of it. She has a mast cell tumour in her point of shoulder. Because of the size and placement of the tumour combined with age concerns it seems inoperable and so far attempts to shrink it or shove it into remission have had very little effect. Our strong little warrior hound has last met the weakness of old age and seems unable to withstand the barrage of chemotherapy. All kinds of unfortunate delays and mistakes have meant that the diagnosed mast cell tumour was not discovered until grade 2 stage. A younger dog may well have recovered from this for some long time but for Paschale it seems unlikely.
May6th: I had to stop when I was going to detail here the progression/remission/progression of this disease as Paschale suddenly declined and is today at the end of her days. This will now have to wait for an update on the cancer page at a future date.
Paschale recovered rapidly from a painful period of gastritis and although she didn't really respond to treatments she remained strong and without any obvious pain - until yesterday. Yesterday she woke shivering and weak. She improved a bit in the day and managed some food but seemed to have lost all co-ordination and was unable to stand steadily. The vet 'phoned and asked if we wanted to euthanise but she stopped shaking and just seemed to want to sleep. I slept near her through the night and woke frequently to see if she had passed away in her sleep - the best way - but she survived to the morning. Today she has a cough and extreme weakness and for the first time we know we cannot allow this to continue - this is now real suffering. She had her 14th birthday on Good Friday - when she still was enjoying her walks and food as normal and now her long, successful and mostly happy life is over. Michael and I are truly heartbroken of course but there are few regrets - a full and good life is over and she leaves us her son, daughter and grandsons and a million wonderful memories.
May6th: I had to stop when I was going to detail here the progression/remission/progression of this disease as Paschale suddenly declined and is today at the end of her days. This will now have to wait for an update on the cancer page at a future date.
Paschale recovered rapidly from a painful period of gastritis and although she didn't really respond to treatments she remained strong and without any obvious pain - until yesterday. Yesterday she woke shivering and weak. She improved a bit in the day and managed some food but seemed to have lost all co-ordination and was unable to stand steadily. The vet 'phoned and asked if we wanted to euthanise but she stopped shaking and just seemed to want to sleep. I slept near her through the night and woke frequently to see if she had passed away in her sleep - the best way - but she survived to the morning. Today she has a cough and extreme weakness and for the first time we know we cannot allow this to continue - this is now real suffering. She had her 14th birthday on Good Friday - when she still was enjoying her walks and food as normal and now her long, successful and mostly happy life is over. Michael and I are truly heartbroken of course but there are few regrets - a full and good life is over and she leaves us her son, daughter and grandsons and a million wonderful memories.
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